Hamas released three more hostages Saturday in exchange for nearly 400 Palestinian prisoners, who were freed later in the day.
Late Saturday, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in Israel to begin his first Mideast tour. He will discuss the fragile ceasefire and President Donald Trump's proposal for Gaza when he meets Sunday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
All three of the hostages that were freed Saturday were from Kibbutz Nir Oz in southern Israel.
Israeli American Sagui Dekel Chen, 36, reportedly was taken captive when he confronted Hamas militants during their October 7, 2023, terror attack. Two months after his capture, his wife, Avital, gave birth to their third daughter.
Also released was Israeli Russian Alexander (Sasha) Troufanov, 29. He was taken prisoner in the Hamas attack, along with his mother, Yelena, grandmother Irina Tati, and girlfriend Sapir Cohen. All three women were released in a hostage deal a month later. His father, Vitaly, was killed in the attack. The family emigrated to Israel from Russia 25 years ago.
The third hostage released was identified as Israeli Argentinian Iair Horn, 46. He was kidnapped in the Hamas attack, along with his brother Eitan, who is not part of the current phase of the hostage deal.
The three men were handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross in the Gaza city of Khan Younis before being transported to Israeli forces.
In Tel Aviv, family members and supporters watching the release via video cheered as the men emerged from vehicles at the site of the handover.
Meanwhile, the first bus carrying freed Palestinian prisoners and detainees arrived in Ramallah to a cheering crowd waving Palestinian flags. Hamas said some 369 Palestinians were set to be released Saturday.
It is the sixth swap of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners as part of the January 19 ceasefire agreement between the two sides.
Hamas, a designated terror group according to the United States, the U.K. and other Western countries, named the three hostages it would release Friday. It had threatened earlier in the week to not release them, accusing Israel of violating the ceasefire agreement.
During the first phase of the ceasefire, set to last six weeks, Hamas is to gradually free 33 Israeli hostages in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.
Twenty-four hostages and more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners have been freed, so far, during the first phase of the truce.
Hamas militants killed 1,200 people and captured about 250 hostages in their Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel that sparked the current war. Israel says it believes Hamas is still holding about 60 hostages, including 35 the military says are dead.
Israel's counteroffensive in Gaza has killed more than 48,000 Palestinians, according to the territory's health ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians. Israel says it has killed over 17,000 militants, without providing evidence.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the U.N. Security Council on Friday that more than 630 trucks carrying humanitarian aid entered Gaza on Thursday, with at least 300 of them heading to the northern section of Gaza.
He urged the Security Council and all U.N. member states to support efforts to implement the ceasefire and bring about a permanent cessation of hostilities. He also called for the international media to be allowed into Gaza to report on the situation on the ground.
Meanwhile, U.N. ambassadors from the 22-nation Arab Group rejected Trump's proposal Friday for the U.S. to take control of the Gaza Strip and for Palestinians to be relocated elsewhere. They also expressed their desire to see Gaza rebuilt for Palestinians.
Speaking at U.N. headquarters in New York, the group's chairman, U.N. Ambassador from Kuwait Tareq Albanai, said the suggested displacement of Palestinians from Gaza would constitute "a clear violation of Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949, prohibiting the forcible transfer of protected populations from occupied territories, irrespective of motive."
U.N. Palestinian Ambassador Riyad Mansour said Palestinians would like to see Gaza rebuilt as Trump imagined, only for the Palestinians.
"We have no homeland except Palestine," he said. "We love Palestine. We will rebuild the Gaza Strip. We will rebuild Palestine."
Mansour said the group also was strongly united behind the current ceasefire agreement and to make it permanent, and for it to be expanded to include not only Gaza but the occupied West Bank as well. The Arab Group also extended an invitation to the U.N. Security Council to visit Gaza.
VOA's Natasha Mozgovaya and Margaret Besheer contributed to this report. Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
